The Nightmare Games
by LovelyJovely
Summary: Coraline thought it was over. She thought that the beldam could never get her soul in a million years; the beldam's hand was down the well. But what happens the Other Mother discovers a new way to capture her soul? *TITLE CHANGE*
1. Chapter 1

**HOORAY! I'M ANOTHER PERSON WHO IS GONNA TRY AND WRITE A SEQUEL! –high fives everyone who is writing a sequel- YEAH! I'M SO PUMPED! **

**Okay so anyways, this sequel is sort of gonna have a Nightmare on Elm Street-ish feel to it! I got it all planned out, so I just need to write it (hopefully I won't get writer's block)**

**And then I need to learn how to add chapters! Let's do this!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Coraline or anything that has to do with it!**

**On with the story! :)**

I was running. That was all I was vaguely aware of. It was the type of running that pushes yourself as hard as you possibly can, but you don't seem to move any faster. The type that screams at you to stop, to let your body rest, but you don't. You just keep running.

But why was I running? I looked at my surroundings for some type of answer, but everything faded into one big blur of motion as I ran past it. I did not stop though, because I never thought about stopping. It was as if my mind let my body function on it's own while I was still wondering where the heck I was. Out of all the jumble bouncing around in my head, I could only gather one piece of clear information: I was running.

Trying to find out where I was, my mind seemed to clear a little bit, letting me think straight. All I could gather was that I was running somewhere the walls and ceiling melded together, forming the shape of a tunnel. The tunnel was brown and had big bumps and cracks that ran all across it, making it a very unattractive sight to look at. It also had completely random and odd items stuck in the cracks: toy sailboats, dolls, a golden watch, tea cups, and more stuff I couldn't even name. This place felt so distant, so foreign to me, but at the same time, so oddly familiar. Like this place was calling to me or something. I don't know what made me realize it, but it hit me.

"_The passageway between this world and the other world_," my mind processed slowly, "_only its bigger." _I looked around. It was bigger; it used to be so small I would have to crawl through it. I shuddered. Just the thought of being here made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I suddenly felt light-headed and claustrophobic as I heard a voice from behind me. A spine-chilling voice that could make anyone's blood run cold. "Coraline," the voice crooned, "I've been so lonely without you."

I stopped dead in my tracks, gasping for air that didn't want to go in my lungs. _"No…"_ I thought in fear,_ "Oh please God, no." _My ears rang slowly as I slowly turned around, bracing myself for the worst.

I realized why I was running all that time.

There she was, my worst fear. The woman- no, thing that had tried to take my life away by luring me into her trap. The thing that had taken my parents and used them as bait to get me to stay in her world. The thing that was beaten at her own game.

And she was standing less than ten feet away from me.

She raised one eyebrow in surprise, then both in amusement. She laughed softly, walking towards me. "So you've decided to quit running? Smart girl. I always knew you were one. I had no intention of chasing you all day, and wasn't planning on letting it stay that way. But you knew that already." She said in the motherly tone that once fooled me. She extended her needle-like hand in front of her, trying to show me that I could trust her by taking her hand like she was my real mom, but I'm not that stupid. I took a step back cautiously, looking around me to see if there were anyway to escape. There were no holes I could crawl through, and there were no places I could hide. I was trapped. I almost gave up hope when the beldam was nearly four feet away from me, but then I saw something bright from the corner of my eye. Turning around, I saw a shaft of light coming from the end of the tunnel.

_"The door."_ I thought in relief, and not knowing what the Other Mother was going to do next, I looked back at her face, which realized I was about to escape. The fake warmness in her face had drained as her sickening smile had turned into a scowl. Her button eyes didn't seem as shiny as they once were when I looked at them. She reached out to grab me. Thinking quickly, I ran as fast as I could towards the door, not necessarily think about whether she was going to get me or not, but more so about needing to get out of this nightmare of a place. I kept on running, but I wasn't getting any closer. I pushed myself as hard as I possibly could even though my legs felt like jello. My heart rate sped up and it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I thought that I would never reach the door; I thought I should stop trying to run and just give up, but miraculously, the door started getting closer and closer into my view every time I took a step.

A sudden thread of hope filled my body. _"I'm going to make it,"_ I thought with joy, _"I win again."_ A smile spread across my face as the oxygen seemed to flow more easily down my throat. Just then, my hope shattered like a glass vase falling on a floor as I felt something get caught around my ankle, causing me to fall on my face. I could hear the Other Mother laughing as I struggled to push myself off the ground. My arms collapsed underneath me and I found myself lying on the cold ground again. I put my last bit of energy into turning my head around to see what had caused me to fall.

It was her hand. It scrambled off my feet, crawled back up the Other Mother's body and took it's place upon her right wrist. I looked up at the beldam, who was still laughing.

"You really shouldn't have run away, dear. You know better than that. I was going to catch you no matter what." She stated, walking around me. She took out a needle, thread, and two black buttons from the pocket of her apron. She tapped her metallic finger on the tip of the needle repeatedly as if to say, _I won, you lost_. "Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way," she said leaning towards me, needle and thread squeezed between her two fingers, "Don't worry, it will only hurt for a bit."

As she was about to dig the needle into my skin, I closed my eyes and screamed, for I had no way to defend my worn-out body, waiting for the pain. When I did not feel it coming, I stopped screaming and opened my eyes. Surprisingly, I was not in the passageway anymore, and the Other Mother was no where to be seen. I was in my own room, in my own bed, clutching my own teddy bear I got from the zoo back in Michigan. I was breathing heavily, and my heart was still racing. Cold sweat beads clung to my forehead. "It was just a dream," I said to myself in reassurance, "It was just a dream."

No less than five seconds later, my parents rushed into my room. Mom turned on the lights while my dad looked all over the room with a baseball bat in hand. He then turned his head to look at me with an anxious expression. "What happened?"

"_Way to go Coraline, now you have to explain why you started screaming for no reason in the middle of the night." _I took a deep breathe and, not wanting them to freak about me having nightmares, told them, "I just saw a really big spider, but it crawled out the window." I explained, jerking my head towards the half-opened window I left open in case the nameless cat wanted to come in. Hey, I wasn't _exactly _lying, I mean, I did see a spider. A really big spider. A spider that tried to sew buttons into my eyes.

I was worried that they wouldn't buy it, judging by the suspicious glances they gave each other, but then my mom's suspicion turned to annoyance. "You're meaning to tell us that you stayed up 'till two in the morning doing God-knows-what, _on a school night_?!" My mom said angrily, putting her hands on her hips.

"Yes…?"

My mom sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Go. To. Bed." She ordered as she turned off the lights and went back to her room. I was so glad my mom's attention span was too small to discover the real reason I was screaming. That, or she was just too cranky and tired to care. My dad bent down next to me and ruffled my dyed hair. "Get some sleep, Kiddo. If you need anything just call."

"You got it, Dad." I said.

He kissed my forehead and went to my window to shut it. Then he walked out of my room, his baseball bat tucked under his armpit. It immediately felt stuffy in my room. I paced to my window, breathing in the fresh night air as I opened the window. The cool air felt good against my face, so I was hesitant in going to my bed. I listened to the sounds of night: crickets chirping, owls cooing, leaves crackling… it usually relaxed me, but not tonight. I also heard a cat purring, a sure sign that the cat who shall not be named was coming. In less than a couple seconds later, the cat dawdled it's way to my window. It looked up at me with it's big, blue eyes.

"Hello, cat." I said to him, who blinked in response. I pet the back of his head, making him purr. I knew he could tell I was uneasy, because he nudged my hand a bit with his head as if to say, _"What's wrong?"_

I sighed. "I had a dream about the Other Mother. A dream where she won." I said in a soft voice. The cat didn't move for a couple of seconds, but then began to "comfort" me by licking my hand. I continued, "I've never had a nightmare so vivid in my life, not even the ones I had after I beat the Other Mother two years ago. It felt so… real." The cat looked up at me again, then jumped off the window sill and went to lay on my bed. I half-smiled, going to my bed too. I got under the covers and began stroking the cat absent-mindedly, not sleeping a wink for the rest of the night.

**And there you go! I hope that wasn't too confusing! It wasn't for me, but I know what's going to happen next, so I have no clue if it's confusing or not! REVIEW!! :D **


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry I updated so late! I'M SORRY! It's just that, for some odd reason, this chapter took me forever to complete. The good news is that creating this chapter gave me some really good ideas that I think are pretty awesome. The bad news is that I hate this chapter. So please excuse the lameness of this chapter.**

**Oh yeah, from here on out, this story will be in third person, unlike the first chapter. I wasn't really sure where my story would go when I wrote the first chapter, but now I know that this can't be in first person unless I switch different POVs in one chapter, which I really don't want to do.**

**Disclaimer: I think you all know I don't own Coraline, only the new character in this story (who's name you'll find out later in the chapter)**

"Oh Coraliiiiine! Rise and shiiine!" a voice chimed happily from outside of Coraline's door. The blue-haired girl, who hadn't got any sleep, had her face buried in her pillow. Her mind hadn't registered it was morning until she turned herself over when the person outside of her door spoke and saw the orange and yellow rays of the sun feather out over the mountains. She raised her head slightly, and through her half-opened eyes, examined the clock next to her. It read 6:45. Coraline groaned and buried her face into the pillow, regretting that she stayed up all night. Someone rapped repeatedly on the door. "Coraline! Get your lazy butt up! We're gonna be late for school!"

Coraline could barely understand whoever was talking to her from the outside of the door. It just sounded all like random noise to her. Through the incessant talking Coraline didn't pay the slightest attention to, she slowly looked around her room, trying to remember why she had stayed up all night. She had tried a bit to remember, but decided that she was too drowsy to think at all, so she gave up. With nothing on her mind, Coraline began to understand that there was someone outside of her door, mindlessly talking to her.

"…. And if you don't let me in right now Coraline Jones, I'll break down this door, ya hear me? I'll break it down, I will!"

Coraline recognized the voice almost instantly. Wanting to avoid a broken door, Coraline spoke up. "Calm your jets, Claire. Just come on in. The door's unlocked, ya know." Silence followed. Then, the slight noise of the doorknob being turned could be heard, and in came a girl, a tad bit smaller than Coraline. Her nose was scrunched up and her lips were pursed. Hands on her hips, she scrutinized Coraline, trying to give her a menacing look. Coraline half-laughed at her attempts to look intimidating, which just made her look stupid. The girl's cheeks reddened.

"Don't laugh at me! Here I am, being a Good Samaritan, trying to help prepare yourself for the tough day ahead, but you don't even pay attention to me, much less let me help you! You should be thankful that I moved into this apartment, because without me, your life would have been overwhelmed with tardy slips from school and nasty comments from unpopular girls! Oh, how will you ever go on without me!" The girl, showing no signs of anger anymore, was now clutching on to the side of the door, fanning herself with her hand melodramatically. Coraline let out a small chuckle, walking clumsily towards her closet. "Whatever you say, Claire. Whatever you say. And besides," the drowsy girl opened her closet door, "don't you get nasty comments from mean girls too? In fact, aren't they nastier than the ones they give me?"

The girl was silent. "…..Touché."

The girl, who's name was Claire, had moved in to the apartment room next to Coraline's near the middle of seventh grade. She lived with just her mother and Chihuahua, Pedro, and when she discovered that there was a girl who was the same age as her, she was ecstatic. But she was also nervous. Since Claire hadn't had much experience with other girls her age, she could barely talk straight when she met Coraline. She had greeted Coraline for the first time at her front door with incoherent "hello"s and random facts about her life. (On that day, Coraline had learned that Claire once had an extra thumb on her thumb, she sometimes still wets the bed, and that she's allergic to tangerines) Claire then offered some cake to Coraline as a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" gift, but then had accidentally spilled it all over herself when trying to walk up her porch. Coraline honestly did not want to deal with her; she wanted to shut the door in her cake-smeared face, but she knew karma or something would bite her in the butt if she did, so she decided to help her clean up. When Claire was all cleaned up, Coraline was surprised that she wasn't acting like the annoying dutz she was outside; she was a bit calmer and much more collected. After talking for a while, Coraline decided that she could be her friend. (Part of it was because Claire's full name was an oddity like Coraline's too. Her full name was Clairevaux Bernardine Margarita Michellian Giodello. How cool is that?)

If Coraline could describe Claire's looks in one word, she would say that she looked like a mint (or possibly… a mento). Her blonde, practically white, hair feathered out in perfect waves to about an inch or two above her elbow. Her eyes were large, with full and long eyelashes, and irises that were a bright, icy blue which stood out on her pale face and brought out the color of her cheeks, and everything she wore that wasn't her uniform, was either _green_ or _white_. Her favorite outfit, which she wore on many occasions, was a pearl white skirt, accompanied by a white shirt that was hidden beneath the mint green sweat she wore. Her legs were clad with a pair of knee high socks, and white tennis shoes with the laces the same shade of her sweater: mint green. And to top of the whole "I'm like mint gum" look, she never went anywhere without her minty green headband, which also held two dark green bows on the sides of it. She reminded Coraline of a spokeswoman for Orbit chewing gum.

As their friendship progressed, Claire became more social and involved than before, even learning to become less clumsy than before. She, too, became friends with Wybie. What seemed like a perfect friendship between the three was actually a bit of a problem. While Coraline loved having Claire as a friend, she was always annoyed by the little eccentric acts she would perform. Like when she would scold her for waking up too late, or when she would drive her insane when she would rant uncontrollably. Some days, Coraline had the urge to slap her across the face and tell her to shut up whenever Claire crossed the annoyance line. It was a lot like her friendship with Wybie: she liked having him as a friend, but there were some days where he would push Coraline's last button. Instead of _wanting_ to hit him, like with Claire, she _would actually_ hit him. Even if it she only smacked him lightly on the shoulder. Coraline could only compare them to Ronnie and Maggie, her two best friends from Michigan. She felt bad, but she _much_ rather preferred her Michigan friends than her Oregon friends.

Though, she would never admit it to Wybie and Claire.

"I thought so." Coraline said before turning her back to find her school uniform in her closet. Claire hurriedly went to her side and looked at her. "Those girls are just jealous of my drop dead sexy looks." She smugly told Coraline, twirling a piece of her bright blonde, practically white, hair.

"Mhmm…" Coraline mumbled, fumbling through her clothes as the girl kept on ranting. Coraline eye lids began to gradually close to the rhythm of Claire's loud voice, and instantly opened her eyes when she realized she was falling asleep. But then her eyes gave in and she began to close them once again, leaning against the door of her closet. She was just about to slip into unconsciousness when Coraline was immediately thrown onto her bed. Coraline opened her eyes, which Claire glared into.

"How much sleep did you get last night?"

The tired girl rubbed her eyes. "…What?"

"You heard me."

Coraline threw her head back, closing her eyes. "Oh… I don't think I slept last night."

"Seriously?" Claire exclaimed, jumping up in surprise. "No wonder you can't think straight! Why didn't you sleep last night? You need to understand that we human mammals need sleep! It's vital to our minds, our souls, our bodies, our spirit!" Claire stated. She immediately threw some clothing at Coraline with deliberate force. "Here's your uniform. Try not to fall asleep while putting it on." Claire ordered, leaving her room to make some coffee for Coraline's work-driven parents.

Coraline groaned, smoothing out her uniform which was ruffled from being in the back of the closet for so long. "Ya know, I was just fine with my mother waking me up before you came. You're like the world's most annoying alarm clock." Coraline said loud voice, loud enough so that Claire could hear her. Claire's high-pitched laughter could be heard from downstairs.

"You're welcome!"

The rest of the morning was uneventful. Coraline ate her Captain Crunch with dull eyes while the exuberant Claire made Charlie and Mel some coffee and croissants, which the two repeatedly thanked her for. Claire gulped down the remaining coffee and then dragged Coraline out the door to the bus stop, where they met Wybie.

"Hey Jonesy! Hey Claire!" Wybie greeted happily, running over to the bench they were sitting at. The two girls both looked at him. Wybie seemed to have sprouted over the last two years, a hearty 5'7, towering over both the girls. He still kept his unruly hairstyle that was always had leaves or twigs stuck in it, curling out in all different directions like he had stuck his finger in an electric socket. His slouch, which had been unreasonably bad when Coraline met him, had straightened itself out a bit, which was all the better. The jacket and gloves he always wore still attached themselves to his stick-thin body because he wore it around everywhere when he didn't have his uniform on. Though his jacket he wore in sixth grade always hung barely above his knees, his sudden growth spurt had fitted his body well against the coat, so that it hung just above his hips now. He obviously looked much better than he did two years ago. He may have even been a bit… appealing also (Though the two girls would never admit it.)

Wybie's goofy grin had slowly changed into a worried frown upon the sight of Coraline's face, which hadn't been full of attitude like it always had. Sudden silence filled the windy air, only the sound of leaves could be heard; which was odd since their short time at the bus stop usually had all of them talking and laughing and such. Wybie coughed at the silent awkwardness, which Coraline glared at him for.

"Are you sick or something, Wybourne?" She asked menacingly, leaning farther back in the bench she and Claire were sitting on. Her eyes were like daggers, and Wybie averted her sharp gaze.

"Uh… are you okay, Jonesy? You don't seem yourself…" He noted.

Coraline opened her mouth to retort a mean comment, but then Claire leaned in front of her. "Oh, she just forgot to sleep last night, she's fine." She said with a reassuring smile. Coraline scowled and then pushed Claire back to her original position, wishing that Claire would stop answering for her like that; it bugged her. Coraline turned her head to look at Wybie, whose head, as always, was cocked to the side in confusion.

"Why didn't you sleep last night?" He asked in curiosity.

Coraline suddenly sat up straight. "I don't know! Maybe I stayed up until 3:00 or something, and then fell asleep without knowing it! I'm not sure why I decided to stay up all the God-forsaken night!" she snapped, her grumpy attitude suddenly getting the best of her. Wybie recoiled back at the venom in her voice, which he hadn't heard before in all his two years of knowing her. _'Note to self: Do not provoke Coraline when she doesn't get any sleep.' _Wybie mentally noted.

"S-sorry…" he uttered, turning away. Coraline huffed her breath and leaned back into the bench. Claire just watched the short quarrel with her icy blue eyes, obviously wondering what the deprivation of sleep could do to a person. She would conduct an experiment on it later. The silence once again filled the air. While it may have been awkward for Wybie and Claire, it was a bit settling for Coraline. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, inhaling the outdoor air deeply and then exhaling it out slowly. All she could see behind her closed lids was blackness, and it enveloped her senses, making her slowly fall asleep.

And then she remembered why she had stayed up all night.

The blackness of her eyelids was suddenly replaced by a cracked, skeleton face; it's face distorting into a malicious smile. Her eyes were… buttons, and they gleamed brightly, but it wasn't in any way comforting. It's hair, black and shiny, framed it's horrifying face and went down to the crease of it's neck.

But thing that stuck out the most in Coraline's mind, was the fact that in it's two metallic hands… were a pair a black buttons and thread. A voice, raspy and full of evil intent, suddenly was heard in Coraline's head:

_"Don't worry; it will only hurt for a bit."_

Coraline immediately opened her eyes and took a deep breath of air. She sat up and glanced all around, making everything was in place. Wybie, who was busy making a pattern in the dirt with his foot, noticed Coraline's sudden change in movement. Claire also noticed this and turned to her.

"Hey, are you okay Coraline?" She asked worriedly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Coraline changed her frightened expression to one of nonchalance. She shrugged of Claire's hand. Suddenly, the sound of the bus could be heard, and the smell of gasoline filled the air.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She said indifferently, laughing a bit to ease whatever worry they had, _if_ they had one. Wybie and Claire exchanged confused glances. When the bus rolled around, they climbed on it and sat in their seats. Coraline watched the scenery pass her window as they went to school, her mind on other things. It was just a dream, Coraline thought, just a dream about something in the past. She thought it was stupid that she had sacrificed her precious sleep because of some stupid nightmare. Nightmares are harmless; they don't bring you any mayhem or anything like that… right? Right?

….. Right?

Of course, saying it was just a dream didn't ease Coraline's tense position in class very much. When Coraline had her first nightmare when she was six, her dad told her that a nightmare was something that could never happen in real life, it was something that wasn't made to be in real life, so it was made inside your head. After that, whenever Coraline would have a nightmare (which was seldom), she would just pass it off as something that couldn't harm her and go on with the rest of the day.

So why was it that all Coraline could think about was the dream she had last night? As her science teacher raved on about some type of chemical, Coraline absentmindedly tapped her pencil against her desk, staring out the classroom window.

If it was a nightmare, Coraline contemplated, why did it seem so real? Why was it that she could feel the ache of her arms supporting her weight then collapsing beneath her and the sting of her face hitting the ground in her nightmare? Did that happen with every nightmare? The blue-haired girl began to doubt her dad's soothing words when he spoke to her as a child.

Coraline thought about what could have provoked her dream. Maybe… since it was almost President's Day weekend, maybe she was just remembering the day when she went into the Other World! Yeah, that must be it, I mean-

"Caroline? What is the answer?" A stern voice demanded. Coraline, used to everyone calling her Caroline, (She had stopped correcting people that her name was "Coraline" after a year; everyone was too dim-witted to remember.) instantly turned her head forward, where her teacher was impatiently tapping her foot.

She stayed silent, not sure of what to say. The teacher scowled, looking like she had drunk lemon juice. "Well? The class is waiting Caroline." She told her.

Coraline could feel the gaze of all her classmates bore into her. She looked up at her teacher and said bluntly, "I don't know what the question was, Mrs. Grison."

The teacher snorted and pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "I would expect that coming from _you_, Caroline. If I were you, I would suggest getting my head out of the clouds and into the books. Understand?"

Coraline was definitely not in the mood for her teacher's suggestion. "Yes, Mrs. Grison." She responded in a bored voice. The teacher smiled slyly at her. "Very well then." She took her attention off of Coraline and on to some other students, "Michael, could you please tell me the answer for this question?"

No one had noticed Coraline's distant attitude until lunch, where Wybie, Claire, and she all sat down at the same table. The two noticed her unopened lunch box and her finger as traced random patterns all over the table. Her sleepless night had finally taken a toll on her looks: dark purple bags hung under her eyes and her face had been a shade or two paler than what it normally is. Her eyes would sometimes close, then instantly open, and then again shut her eyes. Claire finally had the audacity to speak up. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table, the noise made Coraline a bit more alert.

"Listen," she began, glaring at Coraline, "I know you're tired an all from staying up, but you're acting all freaky-like today. What's up?"

The girl raised her eyebrows unsmilingly and then rested her head in the palm of her hand. "Nothing. Just tired"

"Just tired my butt! You would be acting cranky and stuff if you were "just tired," but you're not even talking to us!" She pointed out, flinging her hands around for emphasis.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes! There is! Now tell us what's on your mind!" Claire insisted. Coraline looked at her only two friends, both of which were staring at her for an answer, and sighed. "Okay. I had a nightmare last night, okay? That was why I stayed up all night. Does that answer your question?" She admitted, turning beet red. Claire's angry expression instantly turned into a soft one.

"Oh, Coraline it's okay!" She told her, running over to the other side of the table to give her a bear hug, "We all get nightmares! In fact, I get a reoccurring one where a red pickle chases me and tries to rape me!" She informed her reassuringly, squeezing her tight. Coraline struggled to get out of Claire's death hug, but finally pushed her off of her body. Coraline glared at her.

"First of all, don't ever hug me like that again. Second of all, don't tell me about your raping pickle-nightmares ever again. And third of all, this nightmare was pretty realistic."

Claire, being the oblivious girl she is, ignored the first two points Coraline made. She walked back over to her side of the table and began to talk in a more serious voice. "Just because it was realistic doesn't mean it's real. I would just forget about the whole thing before you start obsessing over it." She advised. Wybie nodded his head in agreement.

"Well you don't know what it was even about!" She argued, but as soon as she said it, she wished she took it back. Claire and Wybie looked curious.

"Well… what was it about?" he asked.

Coraline froze. She didn't really want to tell them, but they had asked her. Claire and Wybie were waiting for her answer, so she swallowed her pride and then looked at Wybie. "Remember in sixth grade when I first moved here?"

"Uh… yeah? Why?"

Coraline bit at a hangnail on her thumb before answering. "Well… remember when I told you that story about a… spider, and then you didn't believe me? But then you saw the spider for yourself then threw it down the well?" Coraline said inconspicuously so that only she and Wybie would know the real meaning behind it. Wybie looked confused for a second, but then quickly caught on.

"Ohhhh, I know what you're talking about."

Claire switched her glances from Wybie to Coraline and then vice versa. "What spider? What story? What the heck are you guys talking about?" Coraline ignored Claire.

"Well… I had a dream where that story I told you happened to me…"

"Oh… I see." Wybie said, nodding his head slowly. Claire puffed out her cheeks, putting her hands on her hips.

"Why won't you guys tell me what's going on!" She whined. Coraline just looked at her then turned her head and said, "Oh, well that's confidential. You should have been there…" She mocked, which made Claire angrier than ever. She and Wybie continued to mock her and enjoyed the pleasure of seeing her get frustrated for the rest of lunch. After they had the rest of their classes at the end of the day, the three friends met at the entrance of the school. Claire was still begging them to tell the secret of the spider all the way 'till they got home, where she gave up asking and defiantly stomped back to her apartment. Coraline headed to her apartment too, but something caught her elbow. She turned to see Wybie, with a serious, almost pitying look on his face. Coraline jerked her elbow from his grasp and turned to him. "What do you want, Why-were-you-born?"

Wybie shrunk back, and with a quiet voice, he assured her, "I know that what you went through was pretty tough and all, but that doesn't mean you have to worry about some dream… It's not like it'll happen."

Coraline groaned, and then punched him in the shoulder. Wybie instantly started to rub his shoulder. "Oww… what was that for?" He asked with annoyance. She squinted her eyes.

"That's for telling me something that I already understand! You guys have been telling me that all day! But you don't even understand, do you?" She waited a couple of seconds to see if he would respond, but he didn't, so she then started again, "It's like if you were almost kidnapped you and then had a dream that they _did _kidnap you and tortured you. Get it?"

Wybie looked away, his head down. "Sort of…" Coraline groaned then started to walk away. "Just forget we had this discussion, Wybie. Goodbye."

She didn't hear him respond. Coraline didn't care though; she just walked back to her flat and spent the remainder of the day watching cartoons. When her parents got home, they made and ate dinner together without noticing Coraline's sudden change in behavior. As soon as Coraline finished her meal, she immediately went upstairs, took a long shower, and then hopped into bed, not even kissing her parents goodnight. She thought about her short conversation with Wybie. _He'll never understand_, she concluded, _he's too ignorant too. And Claire doesn't even know what the heck we were talking about…_

Coraline sighed and then buried her face into her pillow. The only people who could understand were the ones who had actually _been_ to the other world, and the ones that had had already passed on. Coraline was the only survivor left.

Closing her eyes, she thought that she would probably never have a nightmare about it again if she kept thinking about it, so she dismissed all thoughts of the Other Mother and the Other World until her mind was blank. Then she slowly slipped in unconsciousness…

_The frog in the well was happy._

_Because he wasn't interested in the outside world._

_The frog in the well was happy._

_Because he didn't have anything to do_

_with the outside world._

_And you were happy, too.  
Because you didn't know what_

_happened outside of the well._

_-Frederica Bernkastel_

**You like?**

**Trust me. This story will get A LOT better. :p**

**I'll definitely have chapter 3 up quicker than last time, maybe in two or three weeks? I'm bad when it comes to writing quickly. :D  
Just for a heads up: I'll be changing the name of this story to "The Nightmare Games" soon, probably by the next chapter. And I will be changing the rating to T because of some crazy stuff that happens later on.  
Just some random fact: I originally planned out for this story to have just Wybie and Coraline in it, but then there were too many things that didn't work, so I decided to add a character, which made things much easier.**

**Review, and I **_**won't**_** buy you a LalaLoopsy Doll (Have you seen those things! They're creepy!)**

**But could you review, please? They inspire me to write whenever I read them (As long as their not along the lines of something like "DAMN YOU. YOU SUCK.") So….. REVIEEEWWW! :D**

**(P.S, thanks to everyone who reviewed! It really inspired me!)**


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